At least 100 million workdays are lost each year to lower back injuries at great cost to the economy. It has been estimated that workers compensation claims for back problems total billions of dollars each year. Exercise professionals know back pain and injury can largely be prevented through appropriate strengthening and stretching exercises.
Most athletes (both professional and recreational) know that in order to perform at their best level physically, it is necessary to warm up the body's muscles prior to performing an exercise. Also, to maintain muscle tone and flexibility, it is important to stretch one's muscles by exerting an elongating pulling force acting on the particular muscles being stretched. Typically, muscle stretching is performed by assuming a position in which a particular muscle group is elongated. This position is held for a period of time and then additional force is applied to further elongate the isolated muscle group.
When performing muscle stretching exercises, an athlete will typically concentrate stretching exercises that are designed to apply the elongating pulling force on the relatively larger muscle groups of the body, such as the muscle groups located in the legs and back. A common stretching procedure used to stretch the hamstring and lower back muscles is to stand straight up and then bend at the waist, while keeping the legs straight. The action of bending the torso at the waist exerts the desired pulling force on the muscles of the legs and back, and in particular, on the hamstring muscles. Since the hamstring muscles are one of the largest muscle groups of the body, used when performing many types of exercises and are commonly injured, it is very important to insure that the hamstring muscles of the legs receive an adequate stretching prior to, and after, exercising.
However, the traditional methods used for stretching the leg muscles and back muscles are inefficient, and place the athlete at a high risk of lower back injury. For example, when performing the above described stretching exercise where the torso is bent at the waist, the entire weight of the upper body is supported by the muscles of the lower back. This places a large strain on a group of muscles that tend to be weak and very tight in most individuals. Very often the back muscles are overloaded when a stretching exercise is performed, causing muscle fibers to tear, and resulting in debilitating pain and injury.
In order to provide a better stretch of the leg muscles and back muscles, another stretching method requires the athlete to sit with the back of the thighs flat on the ground with the toes of the feet pointing up. The athlete then reaches slowly forward with his hands towards his feet to bend the torso at the waist and perform the stretching exercise. A limber athlete will, in this position, be able to grab his feet with his hands and pull his chest towards his feet. In order to get a more consistent and more effective stretch, an assistant can apply an urging force to the back and shoulders of the athlete to urge the chest towards the feet. It is important for the assistant to exert enough of a force at an appropriate rate in order to obtain a good stretch of muscles, without causing pain or damage to the athlete. Typically, the athlete will communicate to the assistant how much pressure to apply and when to stop. In another method, which isolates the hamstring muscles from the lower back muscle (which is essential in some rehabilitation regimes), the individual lies on his back and places one leg straight up in the air. Typically a towel or band is placed around the foot so as to apply a force pulling the leg toward the chest.
With both of the described methods, not only is a force applied by the assistant, but also a counter force is applied by the athlete. This counter force is timed and released. As the counter force is released, the assistant is able to move further into the stretch. This stretching technique is referred to as PNF (proprio-neuro-facilitation) and is extensively used by rehabilitation professionals with excellent results. An assistant is very helpful when performing either of these stretching methods.
However, the traditional methods for stretching the legs and the back of an athlete without a trainer are inadequate. It is difficult for an athlete to exert enough of an urging force without resorting to dangerous bouncing motion. Also, even if an athlete is fortunate enough to have an assistant on hand to exert a consistent and adequate urging force, it is still difficult to obtain a good stretch, since the athlete must communicate with the assistant precisely when enough force is being applied, and how long to apply the force. If not enough force is applied, then the muscles do not receive an adequate stretch. If too much force is applied, then the athlete runs the risk of serious muscle and connecting tissue damage. Therefore, there is a need for a fitness device that an athlete can use alone for exerting and maintaining an appropriate force for both stretches described above. Since prevention and treatment for lower back and hamstring injuries involves obtaining increased flexibility or elongation of the muscles in this area, a device such as the present invention would have wide spread use among rehabilitation professionals as well as any commercial fitness facility.